I have been closely following the chatter involving the Constitutional Amendment for Charter Schools that will be presented to voters on the ballot November 6. The amendment question will be presented in the following manner:
“Shall the Constitution of Georgia be amended to allow state or local approval of public charter schools upon the request of local communities?”
Traditional Public education funding must come first
All persons desiring to vote in favor of ratifying the proposed amendment shall vote “Yes.” All persons desiring to vote against ratifying the proposed amendment shall vote “No.”
I will probably not be popular with some folks when I say this, but here goes. I plan to oppose the amendment and believe it or not it has nothing to do with charter schools. Rather, it has everything to do with current state funding of public education.
What is the primary obligation of the state with regard to education? The Georgia Constitution states in Article VIII, Section 1, “The provision of an adequate public education for the citizens shall be a primary obligation of the State of Georgia. Public education for the citizens prior to the college or postsecondary level shall be free and shall be provided for by taxation.”
Since 2008 that state has experienced a decrease of 4,280 teachers in Georgia’s public education classrooms. In that same time period, the state has seen an enrollment increase of almost 38,000 students. Of the 180 school districts, 121 school districts have reduced the number of calendar days for education to save money. Appling County has yet to return to a traditional 180-day calendar and is currently operating at a 170-day calendar due to austerity cuts approved by the governor and state legislature. Those austerity cuts are estimated to be around $4.4 billion since 2008 statewide. The average across the nation for state funding of public education is just over 43 percent. In Georgia, public education funding provided by the state has dropped to approximately 38 percent. That means there is more of a responsibility placed on local communities to carry the burden of funding public education, which again I believe is one of the state’s primary obligations, not local property taxpayers. State School Superintendent Dr. John Barge has estimated that if this amendment passes that it will take an additional $430,000,000.00 to fund new charter schools. Please note that if this amendment passes that money will come out of the same pile that provides for traditional public education, which would further reduce state funding to traditional public classrooms and require more local tax dollars, not to mention take control from local boards of education and give it to a non-elected commission.
As you can see the state government is far from holding up its end of the deal when it comes to traditional public education and now the same legislature that mandated cut after cut since 2008 believes that it can come up with $430,000,000.00 to fund charter schools. Amazing! How about our state elected leaders first consider taking this new found $430,000,000.00 and attempt to get our schools back to 180 days per year, hire some new teachers to help with overcrowded classrooms and take the burden off of local tax payers by properly funding public education on the state level.
-Jamie Gardner
I will probably not be popular with some folks when I say this, but here goes. I plan to oppose the amendment and believe it or not it has nothing to do with charter schools. Rather, it has everything to do with current state funding of public education.
What is the primary obligation of the state with regard to education? The Georgia Constitution states in Article VIII, Section 1, “The provision of an adequate public education for the citizens shall be a primary obligation of the State of Georgia. Public education for the citizens prior to the college or postsecondary level shall be free and shall be provided for by taxation.”
Since 2008 that state has experienced a decrease of 4,280 teachers in Georgia’s public education classrooms. In that same time period, the state has seen an enrollment increase of almost 38,000 students. Of the 180 school districts, 121 school districts have reduced the number of calendar days for education to save money. Appling County has yet to return to a traditional 180-day calendar and is currently operating at a 170-day calendar due to austerity cuts approved by the governor and state legislature. Those austerity cuts are estimated to be around $4.4 billion since 2008 statewide. The average across the nation for state funding of public education is just over 43 percent. In Georgia, public education funding provided by the state has dropped to approximately 38 percent. That means there is more of a responsibility placed on local communities to carry the burden of funding public education, which again I believe is one of the state’s primary obligations, not local property taxpayers. State School Superintendent Dr. John Barge has estimated that if this amendment passes that it will take an additional $430,000,000.00 to fund new charter schools. Please note that if this amendment passes that money will come out of the same pile that provides for traditional public education, which would further reduce state funding to traditional public classrooms and require more local tax dollars, not to mention take control from local boards of education and give it to a non-elected commission.
As you can see the state government is far from holding up its end of the deal when it comes to traditional public education and now the same legislature that mandated cut after cut since 2008 believes that it can come up with $430,000,000.00 to fund charter schools. Amazing! How about our state elected leaders first consider taking this new found $430,000,000.00 and attempt to get our schools back to 180 days per year, hire some new teachers to help with overcrowded classrooms and take the burden off of local tax payers by properly funding public education on the state level.
-Jamie Gardner
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#1
Neal White
on
10/10/12 at 01:30 PM
[Reply]
Great article Jamie! I hope the public reads this so they can be informed. No good can come out of passing this Amendment.